All the World's a Stage
by Jeva
Summary: [MK one shot] It was a routine he'd grown used to, so it was a very nasty shock to his system when he actually went to Japan and met the one criminal who changed the rules and brought the walls of the box down.


**All the World's a Stage**

  


Before coming to Japan, Hakuba Saguru had never had to think too outside of the box. Events in England had always followed a particular pattern, like a book almost. Exposition, conflict, climax, and resolution. It was a routine he's grown used to, so it was a very nasty shock to his system when he actually went to Japan and met the one criminal who changed the rules and brought the walls of the box down. There were no limitations. The criminal could wear white, could somehow keep his civilian life in balance even with all the evidence pointing right at him, and could somehow turn even his enemies into his friends.

Ever since he'd met Kaitou Kid on that particular heist, he'd been struggling to find the beginning, the reason for the kaitou's role. There was no exposition, no explanation of the characters. This wasn't like a book anymore. Somehow he'd been thrust onto a stage that had characters who had been in the spotlight longer than he. Every time he thought of that first meeting with the phantom thief, he'd felt as bare and revealing as a newborn. Kid had not even answered his question as other criminals would have.

Instead, he challenged it.

"It's your job to find out the answer."

That was why he'd asked, though. He'd asked because he couldn't, for the life of him, understand why someone would throw away their life in such a way. Each murderer, each gangster, each abusive adult, each _ thief _ always claimed to have a reason. Each of them would jump at a chance to make a viable excuse to get out of their punishment.

Kaitou Kid offered no excuse, offered no answer. Just stated with a a rueful smile on his face on that first meeting, "It's your job to find out the answer."

If anyone were to find out how long he'd pondered over the various scenarios of how one became such a phantom thief, they'd probably doubt his sanity. At each heist, though his mind was focused on outwitting the elusive thief, there was always the question in his subconscious. Why? Why would someone take up this role? Why would someone test the limits of exposure and capture?

At one time, the notion that the role had been inherited crossed his mind. There was no doubt Nakamori Ginzo had chased after a different Kaitou Kid almost ten years ago. So perhaps this phantom thief was the protégé of the former Kaitou 1412, he thought to himself before dismissing the idea. Kid was too determined, too free to be playing that role by itself. There had to be more to it.

Then, the gun shots started. Men fired at the white-clad thief from unknown locations during heists. The kaitou became more serious and dropped most of the chiding and taunting at the officers. These incidents pieced together a frightening thought in his mind. What if Kaitou Kid was after the same thing these men were? What if these men had some involvement with his predecessor? Nothing would step forward to rid him of these worrying thoughts. Despite how adamant he was about catching the thief, he never wanted to see him dead. So he continued to observed the phantom thief while chasing after him on heists.

Finally, on the anniversary of the first heist he attended, he thought he found his answer.

  


Kuroba Kaito had decided to throw a party at his house for once and even had the gall to send him a Kid note to mock him and taunt him into coming. Come he did, but no sooner had he stepped into Kuroba's house, he realized that the last piece of the box was about to fall open. That piece being the very ground he stood on.

"Hey, Haku-chan," Kuroba greeted with his usual grin when he saw the detective standing near a portrait by himself. "What's a popular tweed-wearer like you doing over here? I think Koizumi's missing you-"

"Kuroba," he interrupted, not taking his gaze away from their fixed position.

"Heh?" responded his classmate with a confused blink.

He paused before continuing, speaking lowly with a softer tone than normal, "If you had a reason to kill a man, would you?"

There was silence for a long moment...

_Slurp._

Kuroba looked up at him with half-moon eyes. "You don't think I'd kill someone, do you?" He turned his eyes to the magician, who rolled his eyes. "I mean, would you-"

"Yes," he answered lowly. "With the right reason-the right incentive, I would. I know I'm capable of it."

Kuroba looked suspiciously at him. "Then why ask? If you already know the answer-"

"I didn't until you asked me."

Again there was a long pause in which he knew the smaller boy was thinking about their first meeting. He as a detective and Kuroba the illusive Kaitou Kid.

_Slurp._

Kuroba stared intently into his drink-chocolate milk or something that he made that looked like it. "So...what do you think of your answer?" he asked patiently while taking another long draught of the drink.

_Sluuuurp!_

He narrowed his eyes at his classmate. If there was any moment he'd ever get to see Kid in him, this was the moment. "Kaitou Kid...his reasons for doing what he does...they aren't simple, are they?"

"Most people's aren't."

"No," he objected firmly. "I've heard excuses from every criminal I've met, and always they gave the same answer-"

"Did they?" Kuroba asked innocently, seeming determined to find out why his straw had suddenly stopped working. "Not even the _ slightest _ difference?"

"None."

The magician hummed thoughtfully before tapping his straw and making it somehow become a mere toothpick which he blinked at and stuck behind an ear. He then took a direct sip from the cup. "What's so special about Kaitou Kid's?"

So distracted by the small performance, he almost missed the question. "Pardon?"

Kuroba frowned at him, finally appearing completely serious and resembling his alter-ego. "Kid's reasons can be the same as any other person's. Everyone gives you the same 'excuse' because they expect you to fill in the fine details, right?" The raven-haired boy cocked an eyebrow. "That is a detective's job, after all."

  


After that night, he hadn't been able to look Kaitou Kid in the eye until he finally came face to face with the thief. It was at another heist, shootings going along with it, making both thief and officers dive for cover at times. Kid seemed especially nervous that night as he clutched the object of the heist in his gloved hand. By chance alone, he and the kaitou ran into each other while seeking cover.

He glanced at the thief's hand before staring at the monocled face of his classmate. "Is this why they killed him?" he asked quietly.

Kaitou Kid didn't answer, never had a chance to as blood then erupted from his shoulder. Clutching the injured limb, the kaitou only gave him a pain-filled, horror-stricken, shocked glance before fleeing before another shot could hit him.

That rare moment of insight from the other young man had left him reeling until long after the heist was over.

While Nakamori-keibu swore about Kid and speculated on why people would want to hunt him down so viciously, he himself had headed home to think on things more clearly.

That night, a bleeding phantom appeared in his room. The phantom did not say much in the way of explanations. He merely stated that the stone he had stolen was gone now and would not be returned. He also said that the heists would continue despite this achievement. When he was finished, he turned to go.

"Why did they want that stone?" he couldn't stop himself from asking. "Surely there's a reason for all of this-"

The phantom smirked at him. "What's mankind's biggest wish, Hakuba-tantei? There was a reason. This time, though...there's no minor details to fill in. They kill others...but are afraid to die themselves."

A silence fell upon them before the phantom nodded his head. "You've got the picture now. What do you plan to do with it?"

He paused for a long moment before thinking of an answer. "Frame it as my first completed, of course," he answered lightly with a small smirk of his own.

  


Ever since he could remember, there'd always been exposition, conflict, climax, and resolution. Now, he walked on the stage, as well-rehearsed as the other characters as they acted out the events of life. Life could never be as predictable as a book. A character's reasons for being how they are cannot be simply given freely as a gift. That was a lesson that he, Hakuba Saguru, learned by meeting the infamous, illusive phantom-magician thief Kaitou Kid.

  


* * *

_Author's Notes:_ Got bored. Got curious. Whatnot. You know the routine. -grins- Yeah. I actually kind of like this one because it reminds me of a memoir Hakuba would write. Hm...yeah, anyway, here it is. Voila! Now that I'm done I can probably get back on track...-doubts it- CURSE MY INABILITY TO STAY TO ONE STORY! 


End file.
